Does Anybody Still Keep Their Money Under The Mattress?

We know some people used to keep their money under the mattress. Maybe some still do. Is that the best way to save? Sure it’s convenient when you need to buy a pair of shoes in a hurry almost like the ones you saw JLo wear on the red carpet. But aside for emergency shoe runs, storing money under the mattress might not be your best option. Your money can be saved in a much more productive way.

When it comes to making sure your financial future is secure, are people generally interested in the same thing? Saving enough to buy shoes? Obviously. Retire comfortably? Secondary. Having enough to pay for education? I would say so. Being able to easily meet everyday financial expenditures, like house maintenance, personal and business expenses.

What can you do to make all that happen? How do you optimize your financial goals? Where and how should you invest? What investments are less risky? How do you save better?

We thought our readers would want to know what steps to take to perhaps move their money from under the mattress into a better investment opportunity. How could our readers plan to secure their financial future?

Whimsical Thinkers sat down with Vladislav Zherenovsky, CEO of Kraner, LLC the industry’s leader in today’s financing future to ask him if he gets the same question over and over and what is his advice.

What’s the very least I should do when it comes to protecting my financial future?

In Lewis Caroll’s Book “Alice in Wonderland” there’s a famous dialog:

““Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?”

“That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,” said the Cat.

“I don’t much care where—” said Alice.

“Then it doesn’t matter which way you go,” said the Cat.

“—so long as I get somewhere,” Alice added as an explanation.

“Oh, you’re sure to do that,” said the Cat, “if you only walk long

enough.”” —Chapter 6, Pig and Pepper

The hardest part of my mission is to educate financial literacy – we need to know what’s important to you?What are you trying to achieve? What are you saving for? Shoes? Business expansion? Are you trying to max out your employer 401K? Are you working on having 3-6 months saved? Are you trying to retire comfortably? We first help our clients identify what they want to save for, then we determine the amounts that will be necessary to achieve that, and only then we can talk about investing money accordingly. Not the other way around.

2. What’s the advice you give most often?

We start with a financial plan to identify financial goals (that are different for everybody) for some: vacation every year (Where to? How much does your vacation cost? New car every five years. What type of car? How much does the car costs? Paying for daughter’s wedding. What’s the timeframe and approximately how much? Paying monthly living expenses; setting up a budget and sticking to it. And… the million dollar question, how much do I need for retirement? I always say, that depends where…. In New York City, where $1 million is not enough or in Tallahassee Florida, you can be set with a quarter of a million dollars.

3. What investment option has the least risk?

For obvious reasons most would probably say that keeping money under your mattress is safe. However, $100,000 in 2000 was worth only about $68,000 in 2008 if you kept that money in cash. I don’t mean that the bugs ate $32,000 worth of money, but a hidden tax called inflation diminishes the value aka purchasing power of money. Think about how much $20 was in 2005 and how little $100 is today.

Most people spend more time planning their vacation than they do financial planning. First talk to a professional and they will help you set up a plan for your financial success. Remember, if you fail to plan, you plan to fail!

Kraner LLC is an independent wealth management firm that focuses on providing unbiased financial advice to clients all over the United States. Investors include leading public and corporate companies, financial institutions, family-owned business offices and individual investors. Utilizing the best non-proprietary technology and investment strategies Kraner, LLC will help you to achieve your financial goals. Email Vladislav Zherenovksy at Vlad@kraner.com or call (201) 374-4079. Kraner LLC.

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